A former military Head of State,
Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday became the second presidential
aspirant, to pick the expression of interest and nomination form of the
All Progressives Congress.
Buhari, who paid the required N27.5m in Abuja, was handed the form by the party’s National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun.
Speaking after collecting the form,
Buhari said but for the fact that he was a member of the party at its
highest level, he would have complained about the high cost of the form.
Buhari said, “It’s a pity I couldn’t
influence this amount to be reviewed downward as was done in the case of
the ladies. I looked left and right, I couldn’t read sympathy on
anybody’s face.
“So, I kept to myself but I felt heavily sorry for myself, because I don’t want to go and ask somebody to pay for my nomination.
“If you recall-even the last ones
(elections) I have (contested), -I always try to pay for myself, at
least for the nomination form.
“I was about to go to Kaduna for a
reason, so I talked to the chairman and he said you better picked your
forms and he kept a straight face meaning you have no choice.
“We thank God, we have reached this stage, speculations will now cease.”
Responding, Odigie-Oyegun, who described
the retired general as a leader in the party said, “The N27.5m is to
separate the men from the boys. It is quite clear, we know you. I don’t
expect that you have N27.5m under your belt, but I expected that there
are Nigerians who will vouch for you any day and who are ready to stand
for you any day.”
He also congratulated the aspirant for selling himself and the party with the way he handled his formal declaration.
The party chairman said, “I want to
assure you that if there is consensus among the aspirants, we as a party
will welcome it completely. But if there is no consensus, we are going
to give you the cleanest, the most transparent primary we are going to
let this country see.”
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